Page 10 of Wicked Tides #1

Dahlia

Wronged by a man upon the sea

now sharp as a knife and vengeful is she.

~ The Broken

With a sharpened blade, I made a clean cut across the red meat of a freshly caught tuna. A thin piece separated from the body and I held it up, smiling as I sucked it into my mouth. The fresh fish melted between my teeth.

The young girl sitting in front of me was bundled in one of the furs from the storage and smiled at me as I exaggerated my enjoyment of the food.

We were sitting on two small crates on the deck with a third crate between us where I continued cleaning fish and showing the girl how to carefully strip the meat.

We couldn’t speak the same language, but she was observant, watching every bit of the process.

She even tried a piece of the raw fish and the way she ate it made me think she was no stranger to the taste.

“Ahnah,” she said once she swallowed. Then she followed that with more words I couldn’t understand.

“I wish I knew what you were saying, otessi , ” I said .

Her little hand reached out, surprising me when she pressed two little fingers to my chest.

“Mm,” she said before pressing her hand to her own chest. “Ahnah.”

“Your name? Ahnah?” She smiled, showing off her two missing front teeth. “Ahnah,” I repeated, pointing at her with the tip of my knife. Then I pointed it toward myself. “Dahlia.”

“Da’ya,” she said, unable to form the sound properly without teeth. She pointed at herself once more saying, “Ahnah,” and then gestured to me. “Da’ya.”

Language barriers were thick, but somehow, knowing her name had cracked a hole in it. It excited me. Smiling had become foreign to me, but I felt my lips wanting to do it before I started carving the fish again. Ahnah began talking, her tempo sped up with excitement, but I understood none of it.

“Getting comfortable?” Voel asked, her tone a bit accusatory. I turned to find her standing at the railing as if eager to get off that ship.

None of us liked ships. They brought death and torment, but I couldn’t leave the girls to drift into the ocean. I was still unsure what to do with them, but my damn conscience hadn’t learned its lesson yet.

“Not getting comfortable, Voel,” I sighed, setting strips of tuna to the side.

Ahnah took a handful and ran off, likely to distribute them amongst the others while Voel moved into my space.

“How long are you going to take care of these girls?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

“You know what they are, right?”

“I don’t, actually. Kea knows of them, but she doesn’t know much else. None of us do.”

“I’m not talking about that. No matter what, they’re human and they’ll be just like the others one day.”

“They’re young girls,” I said, slicing through another piece of tuna .

“Young or not, you know what happened last time you took pity on a young human with sad eyes.”

I slammed the tip of my knife into the wooden crate and stood to face Voel.

Despite her smaller frame, she never cowered in my presence when I was agitated.

I never wanted her to. We were equals, but I wanted her to know she’d ventured somewhere she shouldn’t have.

We all had our boundaries. I ground my teeth and stared at her, waiting for her to realize her mistake.

Voel was defiant, though. She was like me.

She’d endured plenty of torment from humans and her own kind just like I had.

It took her a moment, but eventually, she bent.

Whether disappointed or not, we’d always respected each other.

“I shouldn’t criticize your decisions,” she said.

“You can leave anytime you’d like,” I clarified. “Any of you can.”

“I know.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

“Because we are stronger together.”

“Then help me figure out how to get these girls off the waters.”

“We’d have to sail them home, but we don’t know how to sail and every second we stay on this ship puts us in more danger.”

“I know,” I admitted.

If only the girls knew how to man a ship.

Talk of the Maruhk had been filling my head for days.

I couldn’t shake the interest I had in the idea of sirens and humans coexisting.

I wanted to see their home… but I knew that it was more likely I never would.

I couldn’t very well ask where they were from or drag them through the water to get them there.

All I knew was they were from the north. Further north than I’d ever ventured.

My eyes wandered as I tried desperately to come up with more options and when they did, something grabbed my attention. On that foggy day, it was hard to see great distances, but there was one set of sails that flaunted their presence like no other dared.

I paused, staring over Voel’s shoulder at what I almost thought was an illusion. But the longer I looked, the more I realized it was real. Crimson sails. Voel turned to discover my distraction and bristled .

“Father below,” she muttered. “That’s the Burning Rose.”

I glanced around the deck at the girls as they snacked on the fish. The Burning Rose was a cruel vessel filled with ruthless cutthroats. I wanted them all dead. And if they were headed for us, I had little faith they’d treat the girls with any less cruelty than the men before.

Voel spun to face me, eyes wide with alarm.

“Dahl!” Meridan’s voice called out from below. I stepped over to the railing and peered overboard to see her and Kea in the water. “Red sails! Coming this way fast!”

I glanced at the ship again with disdain and then at Voel, making quick decisions. There was no time to think and plan.

“If you must go, go,” I said.

“What are you doing? You’re not staying here.” When I didn’t respond, her brows knitted angrily. “You cannot stay here for the girls. It cannot be worth it.”

“We need to go!” Kea called out.

“I’m not leaving these girls to cruel men. That is my choice to make.”

“If they find you—”

“They won’t. And if they do, I’d never think of blaming you for running, Voel. You know that.”

“This is Bone Heart ,” she emphasized. “If he does catch you, your head will be on a spike. Your body will be left for the sharks. No questions.”

“I know.”

I nudged Voel toward the railing and felt my blood starting to rush with excitement.

She didn’t understand it, but my anger ran more deeply than I had ever let on.

I wanted to see the girls unharmed, but if I could find a window to slit the captain’s throat in the process, I’d relish it.

I’d die for that chance. The Burning Rose had taken many sisters and I despised its captain almost as much as I despised the boy who’d planted that hate in me all those years ago.

Voel grumbled and then ran toward the railing, leaping over into the waters below.

I saw Meridan staring up at me expectantly from the waves.

I just shook my head at her. We both knew that she and the others stuck out like candle flames in the dark.

They were meant for the darkness of the deep.

When it was clear to her that I was staying, she ducked under the waves and out of sight.

Looking up, the red sails were getting closer. I glanced back at the girls, who were only just realizing something was amiss. I pointed them toward the stairs leading below deck.

“Get out of sight,” I ordered, knowing they didn’t understand me. But I needed to convey something and my tone seemed to do that just fine.

The oldest girl started to gather everyone up and lead them all below, yanking the fish knife I’d been using from the crate as she went.

I took a few moments to watch those red sails before I started to strip out of my clothing.

Once I was naked, I ventured below deck behind them and found myself a corner filled with empty crates and broken furniture.

I pressed myself against the wall and let my body adapt to the colors and textures of the wood and supplies until I was nearly indistinguishable.

From my position, I could see the stairs leading down.

The girls had split into pairs and scattered throughout the lower level.

It made me nervous to know I couldn’t see all of them, but there was no time to organize a better plan.

On my arm, my bone knife was strapped tightly.

While I still had time, I slid it from its leather sheath and held it at my side, hiding it behind my forearm.

Gradually, I slowed my breath, bringing my heart rate down so I could listen.

Around me, the girls were silent. They knew how to hide.

They were smart and brave, which made me more inclined to stay and see them safe.

I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I had proven to myself time and time again that I could do impossible things.

Perhaps I could take out the crewmen one by one somehow and wipe that red stain off the tides for good.

It was a ridiculous idea. A dream.

The eerie sound of a heavy ship cutting through the water got my heart pumping again and I had to force it back into submission.

I heard distant voices yelling at each other and shouting demands.

They were close and they were going to board.

They called out for an answer, likely expecting the ship’s crew to call back, but they were sitting in our bellies.

What remained of them had been tossed into the water save for their blood, which had soaked into the wood.

When no one answered their calls, I heard the slamming of boards and the stressing of ropes as they began to move onto the ship.

More muffled conversation took over the deck.

Multiple pairs of boots began tromping above me.

I had to stay calm. I had to stay hidden.

I was one woman with teeth and a blade, but I knew how to use both.

If they found me, at the very least, I could take a few body parts with me into death.

When boots finally started to move downstairs, I sunk a bit further into the shadows, watching as men began to slip into view.